Molly-Mae Hague has spoken out to defend her controversial comments made on a recent podcast appearance after she was branded a ‘Thatcherite’ and criticised on social media for being “tone-deaf”.
The ex-Love Island star and influencer – who has millions of followers on social media – has come under fire in recent days after comments she made about privilege, poverty, and hard work during an appearance on ‘The Diary of a CEO’ podcast, which is hosted by businessman and entrepreneur, Steven Bartlett, who is most-known for being the co-founder of Manchester-based company Social Chain, and for being the newest Dragon on BBC’s Dragon’s Den.
Hague – who was most-recently appointed the Creative Director of Manchester-based fast fashion brand PrettyLittleThing at just 22-years-old, and is reportedly paid £500,000 a year for her role – emphasised on the podcast that “we all have the same 24-hours”.
“You’re given one life, and it’s down to you what you do with it,” she said.
“When I’ve spoken about that in the past, I have been slammed a little bit, with people saying, ‘It’s easy for you to say that, you’ve not grown up in poverty, you’ve not grown up with major money struggles.’
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“And I’m like, but technically what I’m saying is correct.
“We do. So I understand that we all have different backgrounds and we’re all raised in different ways and we do have different financial situations, but I do think if you want something enough, you can achieve it – it just depends to what lengths you want to go to get where you want to be in the future.
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“And I’ll go to any lengths. I’ve worked my absolute a*** off to get where I am now.”
Hague’s comments have since generated much critique and conversation on social media.
While many people simply appeared to label her “tone-deaf” and brand her views as “gross”, other social media users took one step further and turned to calling a “Thatcherite” following, with one notably even calling her “Thatcher with a fake tan”.
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Away from social media, users of Wikipedia edited Hague’s entry to name her “Molly-Mae Thatcher”, changing part of her entry to say she is best known “for having worked harder than anyone less successful than her”.
Now, official representatives of Hague have exclusively revealed in a statement to The Metro today the star acknowledges “everyone is from different backgrounds”, but that her comments were about “time efficiency relating to success’ as well as ‘hard work and determination in her own life”.
The excerpt from statement read: “Molly did a podcast interview in December about her own rise to success. If you listen to the full conversation and interview, Molly was asked about how the nature of her potential grows and how she believes in herself – this part of the interview was discussing time efficiency relating to success.
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“Molly refers to a quote which says “We all have the same 24 hours in a day as Beyonce”. She was discussing her own experience and how she can resonate with this specific quote.
“Her opinion on if you want something enough you can work hard to achieve it is how she keeps determined with her own work to achieve more in her own life. Molly is not commenting on anyone else’s life or personal situation she can only speak of her own experience.
“She acknowledges that everyone is raised in different ways and from different backgrounds but her comments here are in reference to timing, hard work and determination in her own life.”
The statement continues: “If you listen to this interview you can see the whole conversation was about her own personal circumstances, how she has grown up and this small clip in the conversation was talking about a quote that inspires her.
“Social media users have shared a short snippet from this interview with words such as “if you are homeless buy a house” and “if you are poor be poor” these are absolutely not Molly’s words.
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“These are not Molly’s thoughts, and this isn’t at all the meaning or thought behind that conversation.”
Podcast host Steven Bartlett has also this morning released a statement regarding the matter.
I've become very aware of the double standard that successful women face.
If I Interview a man, he can brag about money, take full credit for his success and talk about his cars?
If I interview a successful women, she's got to tip toe around her success and watch her words?
Taking to Twitter to share his thoughts, Bartlett said: “Molly-Mae did an interview on my podcast, yesterday a soundbite from that interview went viral, she trended No.1 on Twitter, every newspaper covered it and MP’s weighed in.
“I’ve had male guests say what she said. No one cared. But when Molly says it, she’s crucified? Crazy.
“I’ve become very aware of the double standard that successful women face.
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“If I Interview a man, he can brag about money, take full credit for his success and talk about his cars? If I interview a successful women, she’s got to tip toe around her success and watch her words?”
Manchester firefighter surprises partner with proposal during new recruits parade
Danny Jones
We’re a sucker for a wholesome little video as we know you are, which is exactly why we thought of you lot when we came across this video of a newly graduated Manchester firefighter surprising his partner with a heartwarming proposal.
Just the kind of heartwarming that usually sets us off after a long week at work.
The clip shared by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) on Thursday, 25 April, shows Manc fireman James popping the question to his girlfriend sat unassumingly in the audience at a recent passing out ceremony.
Pass out ceremonies are when trainees go from recruits to fully qualified firefighters after completing their intensive operational training. It’s a long-standing tradition in the emergency services where friends and family gather to celebrate their achievements – it’s almost like it’s the perfect opportunity…
Watch as a Manc firefighter turns his passing out ceremony into a surprise proposal.
As you can see, since the graduates are usually the centre of attention, James couldn’t help but size his moment and instead of walking and lining up normally like everyone else, he decided to head straight over to his wife-to-be and get down on one knee.
You already know the rest.
Welling up immediately and barely able to remove her hands from her face, Melissa nods and says yes as the crowd cheers and the pair share a smooch.
Writing on social media, the GMFRS said: “We managed to capture a VERY special moment at our new recruits pass out parade today… Congratulations to James and Melissa!”, adding, “Certainly one way to start your new career”.
If we don’t see all the groomsmen dressed as firefighters on a random viral video sometime soon we’re going to be gutted.
All the best to the happy couple and if you’ve got any more lovely clips like this to send in so we can make ourselves cry (in a good way), you know what to do.
Featured Images — Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
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The Chestergate pub in Stockport is at it again with some of the most wonderfully Manc scenes you’ll ever see
Danny Jones
The legendary Chestergate pub in Stockport is back with another belter of a video, following on from their viral belly-flashing clip of 2022.
The Mersey Square boozer has painted yet another quintessentially Northern depiction of UK pub culture with the latest Manc scenes they’ve captured around the karaoke machine.
If you’ve never had the pleasure of stumbling into The Chestergate in Stockport town centre, the long-standing boozer currently operated by publican chain Blind Tiger Inns, you’re seriously missing out.
While it might not be the flashiest of pubs, when it comes to entertainment, it always delivers.
Whether it’s stunts like renaming themselves ‘The Southgate’ whenever the Euros or World Cup rolls around, or the locals just genuinely having a whale of a time no matter what day of the week it is, it really sums up the best of pub culture.
The Chestergate went viral for some of the most British footage ever caught on film back in 2022 and the videos saw a huge wave of love and support flooding in for the pub, as well as a healthy amount of chuckles. Safe to say we were chuffed to see them pop back up on our feed again recently.
Karaoke night at The Chestergate literally never disappoints.
Forget ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ or ‘Champagne Supernova’ for karaoke songs – we’ll take a cacophony of inaudible throwback pop music, whilst another bloke and his hype man try and MC over a totally ill-fitting beat any day of the week.
And that’s handy because you’ll find those kinds of shenanigans happening at this place all the time.
It’s simultaneously one of the most no-nonsense and somehow a non-stop shenanigan-filled paradise. They also look after their own and consider their regulars part of the family. Case and point: they threw their very own ‘Dancing Queen’ Molly a big bash for her 86th birthday and it’s such wholesome viewing.
At this point, it’s worth flagging that we have nothing but envy for these folks and anyone who’s just out there having the time of their lives on any random weeknight.
Yes, it produced plenty of laughs for those watching online in recent times but this lot won’t mind one bit – not only is the pub seeing more and more new faces through the door but that’s the whole point of a pub, isn’t it? Going for a pint with your nearest and dearest and having a laugh.
Not only is it very Manchester but it’s Britain at its very best.
We hope to see you at The Chestergate pub in Stockport for a pint or two sometime soon and we’re making a bit of a prat of ourselves, don’t worry, we’re sure they’ll have the cameras ready for you.